Public Execution, Whydah (Ouidah), Dahomey, 1725
If a man is surprised with a wife of the King, it costs the life of both of them, nothing can save them. . . . If the man and the woman are taken, the King pronounces the sentence of death on the spot... (pp. 65-66; our translation). Labat proceeds to give a detailed description of the execution of the adulterous couple. A reversed image was later published In Thomas Astley (ed.), A New General Collection of Voyages and Travels (London, 1745-47; vol. 3, plate 2, facing p. 38) with the caption, Punishment of one of ye King of Whidah's wives and her Gallant, and an English version of the description in Labat ( see Astley, p. 38).
Image Title
Public Execution, Whydah (Ouidah), Dahomey, 1725
RegID
SI-OB-602
Date
1725
Title
Public Execution, Whydah (Ouidah), Dahomey, 1725
Source
Jean Baptiste Labat, Voyage du chevalier Des Marchais en Guinèe . . .fait en 1725, 1726, & 1727 (Amsterdam, 1731), vol. 2, facing p. 66. (Copy in Library Company of Philadelphia)
Language
French
Item sets
Pre-Colonial Africa: Society, Polity, Culture
Spatial Coverage
Africa--Western Bight--Ouidah
Reproduced In
Jean Baptiste Labat, Voyage du chevalier Des Marchais en Guinèe . . .fait en 1725, 1726, & 1727 (Amsterdam, 1731), vol. 2, facing p. 66.
Researchers
Handler, Jerome; Tuite, Michael; Randall Ericson; Henry B. Lovejoy Graduate Research Assistants: Tiffany Beebe; Travis May
Last Updated
18-Jan-11
Identifier
LCP-19